The dead god Chthon was the most terrifying of all demon gods. He was the creator of dark magic, one of the oldest gods, possessed of immeasurable, dreadful power, and regarded by the Living Tribunal as a cancer upon the universe. Under the rules of Marvel's magic system, Chthon holds the copyright to dark spells. Any sorcerer who uses dark magic must pay him royalties. Even lying back and living off his old work, he can harvest endless faith and souls. A true boss among bosses. That is why Chthon is someone you still cannot see, even with the Time Stone.
Above, the sky was shrouded in black clouds. Blood-red lightning raced through the dense darkness, then detonated with a violent crack, tearing open the ink-black canopy and sweeping down a rain of crimson.
Endless scarlet mist coiled through the air. Fetid, bloody winds came in waves.
From high above, the scorched continent below was laced with fissures. Rivers of magma surged without end. The searing heat warped the air itself, carrying a choking stench of sulfur.
Countless humanoid wisps drifted along with the lava, releasing wails that pierced straight into the soul. As far as the eye could see, there was only wasteland and a flicker of blood-red glow.
The air was scorching, yet it made you feel as if you were plunging into an icy abyss. The sinister chill that filled heaven and earth could not be dispelled, forming the world's unchanging tone.
Flames shot into the sky. The heavy reek of sulfur refused to fade. Demons and devils of all shapes and sizes threw up their arms and howled atop rolling highlands, and scenes of the strong devouring the weak played out again and again in naked bloodshed.
A world that perfectly embodied the law of the jungle. Savage and violent, worshiping strength above all. There was no mercy here. No sympathy.
"So this is hell?"
Whether in his past life or during his time on Krypton, it was Zod's first time setting foot in a hell.
Krypton didn't count. In the DC world, Heaven and Hell were the two most vicious criminal empires. If he had ever gone to Hell there, he would never have come back.
Marvel's Hell was different. He didn't know whether some powerhouse had shattered it, or whether it had always been fragmented, or whether it had broken itself.
In Marvel, "Satan" wasn't a title for one specific being. It was a name claimed by many rulers of hell dimensions. Plenty of demon kings had called themselves Satan, but that was just for outsiders. If anyone dared sit at the round table and declare they were Satan, they'd be torn apart by the other hell lords on the spot.
Countless tiny fragments of hell dimensions were seized by hell lords. They called themselves demon kings and searched for the largest hell dimension fragment, seeking to become the king of all hell dimensions and claim the title of Satan.
DC's Satan was the equivalent of something like Marvel's omniversal Beyonder, the original Beyonder level, maybe even higher.
But Marvel's "Throne of Satan" was only a multiversal level existence.
Even so, Zod couldn't help being tempted.
"With your strength already at Skyfather level, you should be able to handle it," the Ancient One said beside him.
Two living humans immediately drew the attention of the demons and devils in this hell-dimension fragment.
"Ancient One, how long do you need?" Zod asked.
Electromagnetic power surged around Zod's body. When he realized this hell-dimension fragment had no magnetic field, his expression turned incredulous.
Not only did the fragment have no magnetic field, even the demons and devils had no magnetic field. Thankfully, they still had atomic structure. Otherwise, Zod would have to rely on his fists to carve through hell.
"I don't know. This fragment is unfamiliar," the Ancient One said. "I need time to understand it, and then hide it so those hell lords won't discover it."
She spoke to Zod without avoiding sensitive details, as if it wouldn't matter even if he knew.
But Zod already knew these things, so he didn't care.
"So, Ancient One, you've actually hidden a lot of hell-dimension fragments already?" Zod asked in surprise.
"Not only hell-dimension fragments. Other dimensions too. Are you interested?" the Ancient One nodded and asked.
"I'm not interested in abandoning my body to become a dimensional demon god," Zod replied calmly. His body was what mattered most. Everything else came second.
Demons and devils charged in. Zod stepped in front of the Ancient One. A faint yet unmistakably powerful magnetic force subtly shifted the magnetic sensing fields on the demons and devils. The bonds between atoms changed in delicate ways. That microscopic displacement of atomic structure translated into reality as a terrifying twisting force.
All the demons and devils warped into a single ball.
Then the scorched earth began to tremble in rolling waves.
Rumble rumble rumble.
The magma rivers churned violently. Horned hell-creatures crawled out, their eye sockets hollow and black, their bodies nothing but skin stretched over bone, as if they'd been starving for tens of thousands of years.
Climbing out of the burning magma river, dense packs of hell-creatures snapped their jaws open and shut, emitting horrifying screeches. They casually scooped up a wraith from the lava and swallowed it like fruit, three bites, five bites, gulped down whole.
Wasteland fissures tore open. Swarms of bat-winged imps poured out, mixed with monsters of varying heights.
Bones, rotting flesh, rusty iron, severed limbs, creatures stacked from every dark element imaginable assaulted the senses. Strange appearances emerged without end. If you could imagine it, they could grow it.
But look closely and you'd notice something.
These hell-creatures had everything.
Except blood.
Because they didn't have it, they craved it.
Hellfire surged into the sky. The thick stink of sulfur stabbed the nose. Under the black canopy, red light burned bright, and the roar of slaughter shook the air.
Between mountains that interlocked like teeth and oceans of flame, demons and devils of countless forms gathered into chaotic armies. The slaughter was brutally cruel. Not only did flesh and limbs fly everywhere, there were also occasional wet sounds of chewing and swallowing, perfectly defining what "hell" meant.
Then came a thunderous blast!
Demons and devils erupted in panic. The power of the divine dragon wrapped Zod's entire body, and for magical creatures, his attacks were the deadliest thing imaginable.
A deep-blue dragon phantom coiled around him. Zod tested a single punch. The deep-blue dragon phantom flew out with his fist. Wherever it passed, demons and devils were erased like they'd been crushed by ultra-high-temperature plasma, reduced to ash and nothingness.
Zod even lavishly condensed hundreds of deep-blue dragon phantoms.
"Rozan Hundred Dragons!"
Hundreds of deep-blue dragon phantoms tore across the battlefield, unstoppable, beating the demons and devils so badly they fled in terror.
Zod returned to the Ancient One's side. After that brief rampage, he felt the divine dragon power inside him had grown.
It seemed the more he used it, the stronger it became, subtly transforming his body. Zod didn't know whether that transformation was good or bad, but one thing was clear.
His body was becoming stronger.
The Ancient One sat cross-legged with her eyes closed, showing no visible change.
This was already the fifth day.
At first, Zod still had the interest to study hell creatures…
/-\
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